Zuma's #FreeEducation plan: your views

Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma took many by surprise when he unveiled a plan for free higher education tuition for poor and working class students during the ANC’s recent national conference in Johannesburg.

Zuma defined 'poor and working class students' as those from households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000 per year.

The president made the announcement on December 16 2017, just two days after a body representing SA's 26 state-owned higher learning institutions said each would raise fees by 8% for the 2018 academic year.

On January 1 2018, the universities said they won’t allow walk-in applications from people who qualify for free education, but people should instead submit details online for assessment.

This is after the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) publicly called on all "academically deserving students" to report to universities of their choice for registration.

We asked Fin24 users on social media what they thought of the proposed plan. Some 19% of respondents on Twitter said it was a great idea, 27% said the plan was not financially viable, and 53% said it was politically motivated.